Jabrill Peppers, defensive back, Michigan
Without a doubt, Jabrill Peppers is talented. He played defense, special teams, and offense for Michigan. And he was explosive, athletic and extremely fun to watch. He’s a football player through-and-through, but just what kind of football player is he?
He thinks he’s a safety and most NFL teams likely agree, considering he’s only 5-foot-11, 213 pounds. With that said, he’d be an interesting player on the edge as a 3-4 outside linebacker, and there are even people out there who think he would be best in the NFL as an offensive player.
There are a lot of questions about Peppers, questions he would have been able to answer at least a bit more with one more year at Michigan. Not only could he have solidified himself as a superstar — he already was a Heisman candidate, though it didn’t seem to be a realistic bid — but Jim Harbaugh likely could have found a way to use him like an NFL team would have, thus helping him solidify his draft stock.
Peppers might still be a first-rounder, but he’s definitely a boom-or-bust candidate. One more year at Michigan would have likely helped him drop that label, but we’ll never know.